Telesto Ventures forms new advisory team as bidding for Saturn intensifies

Telesto Ventures forms new advisory team as bidding for Saturn intensifies

James Martinez
May 28, 2009
Comment Now!
We’ve heard a lot about Roger Penske and his plans to acquire the Saturn brand from General Motors and use it to start selling vehicles sourced from carmakers overseas. Last week Penske announced that his company hired ex-Chrysler president Tom LaSorda to advise on the bidding process, and then several inside sources revealed that Penske was planning to sell vehicles sourced from South Korea’s Renault-Samsung partnership through Saturn’s U.S. dealer network.

Standing in the way of Penske’s plans are several other bidding firms, one of which is Telesto Ventures. The investment group’s proposal revolves around buying Saturn and altering the brand's retail operations rather dramatically. Under the proposal, Telesto would keep selling Saturn vehicles sourced from GM for the next two years, before it would start to bring in models from third-party carmaker from overseas to sell through the Saturn distribution chain just like Penske.

The overseas models will not be branded as Saturns, but will rather be sold under various brand names. A Telesto Ventures spokesman previously explained that the Saturn brand would become "similar to a Best Buy model in that customers deal with Best Buy because of the customer experience not because they are the only place to buy a Samsung or a Sony TV".

The spokesman also revealed that the brand will focus on bringing in small, fuel-efficient vehicles to market, and the venture group is already in discussions with several foreign carmakers to broker a deal.

As bidding for Saturn intensifies, it’s been confirmed today that Telesto Ventures has also hired a team of auto industry advisers, including two former Chrysler executives - design guru Tom Gale and Steve Torok, who also headed Mitsubishi’s international operations. Other new recruits include Ted Cunningham, Chrysler's former sales chief, and Susan Unger, another past Chrysler executive, who worked as DaimlerChrysler's chief information officer, reports The Detroit News.

GM’s only official comments are that it’s proceeding with plans to sell Saturn and that a number of potential buyers have surfaced and expressed interest in the brand and dealer network. Furthermore, GM will secure an agreement with a specific buyer later this year.